Royal Caribbean offers guests a variety of experiences, tours and activities and one of their most well-respected offerings is Chef's Table.

Chef's Table offers a guided private epicurean five-course experience with an upgraded menu and wine tasting to a limited number of guests. 

I had never tried it, so on a recent Mariner of the Seas sailing I decided to see what the Chef's Table experience was all about. 

I reserved Chef's Table in advance of my cruise via the Cruise Planner, with the choice of enjoying it on any of the evenings of my cruise.

The evening began meeting at Boleros for a pre-dinner drink, where your waiter for the night welcomes you and introduces you to the other guests who will be dining with you. 

Chef's Table is an experience for around 12 guests. The location and capacity of Chef's Table will vary depending on which ship you are trying it on, but on Mariner of the Seas we dined in the rear of the main dining room between deck 4 and 5.

After everyone arrives, our waiter escorted us to the main dining room and seated us in specific chairs.  On this evening, I was dining with 10 other guests.

The Chef's Table is named appropriately, as the chef comes out from the galley to introduce himself and explain the meal that he and the waiter will be serving you.  

The chef and waiter are dedicated to just your table, and that means a personal and intimate evening of food and drink.

There are six courses in total, each paired with a glass of wine. If that sounds like a lot, it is because it is a lot. You begin with appetizers, move onto the main courses and then end with desert.

Each serving comes with a glass of wine that is matched with the food you are being served. The idea is that the food and drink compliment each other to enhance the flavor of each.

When the evening began, I was not sure what to expect beyond simply a lot of food and drink. As the evening progressed and everyone we were seated with started to open up (the wine greatly assists with this), and the waiter got to know us, the meal began to grow on me.

Discovering different wines and how well one cup can pair with a particular food is a welcome surprise, while the detail and attention given to each dish is equally impressive.

Of the six courses served, the tomato soup was outstanding and arguably the best tomato soup I have ever had in my life.  The branzino, a fish I have mostly tolerated, was excellent as well. In all honesty, each dish was great and I could tell the difference between the food carefully prepared for Chef's Table versus food served elsewhere on the ship.

The wine pairings were a wonderful touch, and as someone who primarily drinks red wine, it was pleasant to try a few different white wines and get a sense of the flavor for each.

Overall, I thought the Chef's Table meal was a terrific marathon of culinary excellence. I am far from a “foodie” or someone that seeks out Michelin rated restaurants, but I could appreciate and enjoy this 4-hour dining experience for the attention to detail and intrigue it presented.

For anyone that is looking for something different to do on a cruise, or perhaps looking for a way to celebrate something special, the Chef's Table is a great choice. 

Please welcome Christie McLarty as our guest blogger today, with her first-hand review of Chef's Table on Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas.

When we booked Freedom of the Seas for our anniversary trip, we knew we had to book Chef’s Table. We had eaten at Chef’s Table on Oasis of the Seas in December, and it was one of the highlights of the trip. While the experience was slightly different this time, it still lived up to our expectations of a delicious meal paired with great wines.

The Chef’s Table seats 10-16 people and is usually priced between $80-$90 depending on the ship. On our sailing they had a low number of bookings, so they were advertising a discount of 20%. This discount makes the dinner an exceptional deal, because you probably drink that much in wine alone. The location of the Chef’s Table varies per ship. On Oasis it was held in an alcove between Coastal Kitchen and the Concierge Lounge and on Freedom it was held in a closed off portion of the Windjammer. They did a great job of decorating so that we did not feel like were in the Windjammer. They asked us to arrive a few minutes early and greeted us with a glass of champagne.

Once we were seated at the table, the chef came out and introduced himself and prepared us for the evening. He presented an amuse-bouche that was not included in the menu. This “little bite” was made with a gelatin made from an ice-wine reduction topped with Alaskan king crab and seaweed.

Each subsequent course was paired with a wine. Chef Andre would first present the dish and go over in extreme detail how they prepared the dish. Our waiter then would discuss the wine and why it paired with the particular dish. Who knew you could cook a beef tenderloin in the oven while wrapped in plastic wrap? (Apparently it was a particular kind of oven, but my goodness was that beef tender). The menu appears to be the same fleet wide, but each ship can choose the wine they pair with the particular courses.

Dinner lasts about three hours, and it is fun to get to know the people sitting at the table as well. We had a slight issue with one of the guests at our table being disruptive, and the host handled the situation perfectly. They even presented a dessert with a candle for someone who was celebrating their birthday, which was a nice touch.

My husband and I both agree that this experience is something we will continue to enjoy on Royal Caribbean. If we were to attend an event similar to this on land, we would pay well over $100 per person. The food truly can’t be beat onboard and experiencing this with other guests makes each dinner unique.

Royal Caribbean treats guests to a culinary delight with an exclusive white truffle themed dinner at the Chef's Table. Watch as the culinary team bids on rare white truffles - known as the culinary diamonds - from Alba, Italy and bring these rare delicacies onboard.